DATE=09/17/03

TYPE=U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST

NAME=WEDNESDAY'S EDITORIALS

NUMBER=6-13092

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: Many regional newspapers are commenting on the break up of the World Trade Organizations talks in Mexico and the consequences of this rift. Other editorials deal with California's gubernatorial recall on hold; Iraq; and an approaching Atlantic Ocean hurricane. Now, here with a sampling is ____________ and today's U-S Editorial Digest.

TEXT: The rift between rich and poor nations over trade which saw the Cancun talks collapse is unsettling many editorial pages. In the big farm state of Iowa, The Des Moines Register calls the collapse a "pyrrhic victory for underdeveloped countries," adding:

VOICE: One of the goals of the Doha [Qatar] round of …talks was to help …developing nations by reducing the barriers to agricultural trade. Farmers make up a large share of the …developing wold's … population …Access to markets beyond their immediate villages could improve their prospects considerably. But … The developing nations balked at efforts by the rich nations to clarify… foreign investments … rules …prior to the agricultural negotiations.

TEXT: The Corpus Christi [Texas] Caller-Times agrees with the 21 nations that walked out, protesting: "The rich nations are cheating them." The Caller-Times explains:

VOICE: The cheating is being done by way of subsidizing well-off agri-businesses that do not need this taxpayer welfare. … The United States is also a big-time offender, if not so outrageous as the Europeans.

TEXT: The Chicago Tribune quotes the World Bank as estimating that if the trade talks eventually succeed, it "could lift 144-million people out of poverty and raise global income …

The big domestic story is the federal appeals court ruling that California's recall election on the governor must be postponed until March because of archaic voting machines in some areas. Screams The Los Angeles Times:

VOICE: "Delaying the recall until the March primary … could disenfranchise more voters than holding it in October. … That is because the March 3 ballot …is already a long ballot. … It is simply beyond the capacity of the brand-new… ballot system that [Los Angeles] County will be using for the first time in March…

TEXT: In Florida however, Orlando's Sentinel suggests:

VOICE: [The] Court was right to delay California vote until [the] punch cards [ballots] are replaced. … Have Californians forgotten about hanging, dimpled and pregnant chads in the botched 2000 [Florida] presidential election?

TEXT: Turning to Iraq, the San Francisco Chronicle laments the sacrifices of military National Guard [state militia] units on extended active duty there. It points out "News columns have been filled lately with the affecting stories of such [military] families, who should be counted as victims of the Bush administration's poor planning …in Iraq.

Minnesota's Minneapolis Star Tribune analyzes Vice President Dick Cheney's televised defense of the Iraq war and post-war on Sunday and says he is telling "too little [of the] Truth…" to suit it.

Domestically, several papers are lamenting the bankruptcy of the professional women's football [soccer] league, formed after the exciting U-S World Cup victory four years ago. "What ought to be clear," says Portland's Oregonian, "is that the league's failure is not the failure of a sport that flourishes at all other levels."

Lastly, several papers look toward the swirling South Atlantic Ocean, storm-tossed by hurricane Isabel, and hope for the best. Even though the full force of the storm may miss it, New Jersey's [Bergen County] Record says: "When all is said and done, "Be prepared" remains an excellent motto." With that warning, we conclude this editorial sampling of Wednesday's U-S press.

NEB/ANG/RAE